A PROFILE OF SOCIAL SUPPORT IN PHYSICALLY DISABLED STUDENTS IN AN EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTE OF KANPUR

Sandeep Singh* R.P.Sharma** Suresh Chandra*** Seema Nigam**** Punit Varma*****

*Resident **Professor & Head ***Professor ****Associate Professor *****Assistant Professor

Department of Community Medicine, G.S.V.M. Medical College, Kanpur (U.P.)

INTRODUCTION-

Despite being the world's largest minority, persons with disabilities are largely ignored. Globally, there are over 650 million persons with disabilities, and around one third of these are youth. Nearly 80% of youth with disabilities live in developing countries, and although the actual figures are uncertain, it is clear that youth with disabilities form a significant proportion of the youth population in every society

It is not surprising that the physically challenged fight two battles: the battle to overcome the limitations imposed by their physical condition and the battle to be accepted by others. Physical disability in itself may not be as bad physical experience as the social one, especially in those cases where the handicap is visible

.

Contd.if such scenario is often present right from the

early years of childhood through adolescence, this low self-esteem leads to a feeling of inferiority, social withdrawal, social rejection and ultimately they fall prey to multitude of health problems and psychosocial disorders. Thus individual life, family life and community suffers adversely. The nature and magnitude of social support available to youth with disabilities is a severely under-researched area, Realizing dearth of studies on this aspect , the present study was planned

 OBJECTIVE

To study the bio-social characteristics of physically disabled students.

To study the Profile of social support in

physically disabled students.

MATERIAL AND METHOD Study design – Cross-sectional study. Study setting– Dr. Ambedkar Institute of

Technology for Handicapped U.P., Kanpur. Study period- The present study was carried out in

the year 2009-2010. Study subjects- All (i.e. 210) physically disabled

diploma stream students, in the age group 15 years and above, present at the time of data collection were taken as study subjects. The social classification was done according to modified B. G. Prasad (AICPI, April 2010 ). Data was collected by interview method using a predesigned & pretested Questionnaire.

Statistical Analysis- Analysis was done using percentages.

RESULTS

TABLE-1DISTRIBUTION OF PHYSICALLY DISABLED STUDENTS ACCORDING TO THEIR AGE

AGE GROUP (Years)

No. %

15-17 21 10.0018-20 100 47.6221-23 68 32.38

24 and above 21 10.00Total 210 100.00

TABLE-2

DISTRIBUTION OF PHYSICALLY DISABLED STUDENTS ACCORDING TO THEIR RELIGION

RELIGION No. %Hindu 200 95.24Muslim 10 4.76

Christian 0 0.00Others 0 0.00Total 210 100.00

Table-3 DISTRIBUTION OF PHYSICALLY DISABLED STUDENTS ACCORDING TO THEIR CASTE

CASTE No. %

General 67 31.91

OBC 99 47.14

SC/ST 44 20.95

Total 210 100.00

Table- 4 DISTRIBUTION OF PHYSICALLY DISABLED STUDENTS ACCORDING TO THEIR SOCIALCLASS (According to modified BG Prasad social classification (AICPI, April 2010).)

Social Class No. %I 03 1.43II 18 8.57III 14 6.67IV 66 31.43V 109 51.90

Total 210 100.00

TABLE- 5DISTRIBUTION OF PHYSICALLY DISABLED STUDENTS ACCORDING TO SOCIAL SUPPORT (N=210) (multiple response)LevelOf support

Nature of support Yes No. %

NO No. %

Parents Take to social gatherings

153 72.86 57 27.14

No undue interference

167 79.52 43 20.48

No discrimination among siblings

182 86.67 28 13.33

Siblings positive support 183 87.14 27 12.86

Friends positive support 183 87.14 27 12.86

Community positive support 191 90.95 19 9.05

TABLE-6SOCIAL IMPACT ON FAMILIES OF PHYSICALLY DISABLED STUDENTS (N=210) (multiple response)

Nature of problem YES

No. %

Facing social obstacles 50 24.75

Family environment affected adversely

54 25.71

Family economy affected adversely

112 54.11

CONCLUSIONMajority of the physically disabled students belonged to

age group 18-20 years, Hindu religion, OBC caste and to social class V.

It was seen that maximum 90.95% of the physically disabled students were getting community support, whereas this percentage was 87.14% in case of sibling and friends. It was lowest 79.68% in case of parents. It may be explained by the fact that parents are most directly affected by the disability of their wards.

It was observed that, still a significant percentage of physically disabled students are not getting positive social support.

The study also revealed that families with disabled students perceived greater financial stress.

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